Architect Bowles Hosty has submitted a planning application for a residential scheme in Oldham Road, Manchester on behalf of CERT Property and LV Holdings. The application covers the buildings between 162 and 166 Oldham Road, including Mount Pleasant House. The site sits at the northern tip of Ancoats, opposite the Royal Mail’s distribution centre.

The application outlines the development of a ground floor commercial unit with 30 apartments above, following the demolition of existing buildings onsite. Much of the site currently houses a surface car park.

Howard Lord, director of CERT, told Place North West: “Ancoats is the hottest market in town, and with the Manchester Life stuff going on it’s only going to improve further. This end of the district has been a bit neglected in the past, but it’s a great part of the city to be in. Our apartments are ‘plus-size,’ designed with owner-occupiers in mind, which is reflected by resident amenities such as a rooftop garden.”

Following initial pre-application consultation with Manchester City Council, earlier plans to create a scheme clad in terracotta and white tiles were shelved. Heritage consultants Cassidy & Ashton were engaged to advise on how a scheme could be created from a “more heritage-focussed starting point”.

Founded in 2005, CERT styles itself as a boutique property development consultancy, focusing mainly on PRS and private sale residential markets. It has advised on the acquisition of 700 homes within the last year and disposed of 450 PRS apartments in Manchester alone.

Depending on the planning application’s outcome, CERT hopes to be onsite late in the first quarter of 2017.